Lunchtime special

 The only advantage of the day, a day that was spent arguing the toss with aggressive Barristers was that the journey home took me to a favourite mountain route

 and just for a change instead of haring off up Pen y Fan, the haunt of the UK's special forces

 I took the opposite route across the road for my nano adventure (micro adventures are all the rage, Google it, so an adventure that takes only part of the day and the majority of lunchtime is clearly a nano). So after blasting up the mountain the only option is to go back down a different side

 and then I found a really interesting way down

 and the views along the valley to civilisation were amazing

 so as it was lunchtime I stopped for lunch

 a MRE pasta concoction that tasted much better than it looked

 as I took in the view I could see the peaks of Corn Du and Pen y Fan.

 The other direction had the mountain I had come from which I think is Craig Cerrig Glesiad, either that or the one I'm on is. I was line of sight navigating rather than getting maps out.

 Having selected the way home I set off

 and took the route down the cliff only to find when I got to the bottom, the point of the dark shadow in this picture, that the only way back to the car without a boring slog up a busy A road was to climb back up again, along the top of the dark shadow.

 One mile from my car

 seemed a ggod time for the compulsory selfie

 and after a quick chat with locals I made it back home in time for tea and medals.

Here are the boys in their new tent holding Nana hostage!

Unexpected guest

 Technohermit phoned me today (yes hes still alive everyone) as he had caught a small dog while out hunting dinner. Not partial to braised K9 he had the good manners to phone yours truly asking if we were deficit dog. As all ours were accounted for and most are size of small horses it was quickly deduced that this little doggie was not ours and definitely lost.

Rewind a few hours and a lone hiker was found wandering in our yard, different from all other hikers in that he had an arm in a sling. One thing should have happened at this point, he should have said hello and I should have let him know he was not alone. So he wandered off from our patch of the world and had we spoken he would have told me he was looking for his dog, Cassie, seen here, who had last been seen by him chasing after a sheepdog. Eventually she found her way to the entrance of Techno's lair, most likely enticed by the bone pile. .
Several hours later once Cassie had been safely handed over to yours truly in exchange for a chocolate hob nob by a ravenous Technohermit hikers mother appeared asking if we had her dog. As the apprentice was running around the front of the house shouting can we keep her it was a fair bet she had found the right place to collect her pet. Reunited both Cassie and owner were overjoyed and everyone except the apprentice was happy.

New PB

 Apollo the wonder foal has that look on his face, the one that says "I've left you a little something"

 Turns out his little somethings along with everybody elses little somethings coat the runway to a frightening depth. As they lack the ability or willingness to clear up, after themselves then yours truly has to buckle down and shovel it for them. Pushed for time means its not done as often as it should be and when it needs clearing its a big job clearing the big jobs. Really pushed for time yours truly set about it with unusual keenness and in less time than it takes England to throw away a game the runway was clear.

A new PB, not sure what the old PB was but this was definitely the fastest shovel action ever. Pronto appreciated my efforts and left me little messages all over the place to show how appreciative he was.

Art...I'm all over it

 Early doors it took off over Hergest on my trusty steed

 where we found some awesome views

 perfect for blue sky thinking

 and reflecting

 on the fantastic

 life we lead

 here on the border.

Birthday boy

 Hard to believe that rug rat mkII, seen here playing trains with the apprentice, is two years old. Time just flies by. So guess what rug rat mkII was given for his birthday by his bigger brother. That's right, chicken pox.

We are in quarantine.

All work and no play....

 Yours truly got a call from a friend in need, need of some down time as he was on leave but the week he chose was the week of birthdays and mayhem at work but I managed to blag the afternoon off

 so we could head out on the hills on the MTB's.

 This is almost the top, from here its over a mile downhill along some very interesting tracks

 which is why we look so happy.

There is a video of this mad descent but its too long to post, we survived without hitting any kamikaze sheep and without calling the air ambulance. .

Arty Farty morning pictures

This morning

Big and small

 Apollo the wonder foal has finally grown up, well almost, he has, almost, decided what colour he's going to be

 finally settling for black and white rather than brown and white which he has been for the last 7 years

 and as its winter, almost, he's started to grow his moustache again which might hide his dopey bottom lip.

 The poor lad stood still for too long today which gave us just enough time to tie him up and strap a small person on his back.

Still, could have been worse, he could have been set to work on neighbours lawns as a lawn mower.